Help with outdoor Ebb and Flow

Help with outdoor Ebb and Flow

Tue May 08, 2018 11:48 am

Hello everyone,I think I'm having a problem with my outdoor Ebb and Flow setup but I cannot identify what problem do I have if any. I think that the plants does not grow as fast as they supposed to and also my cucmbers are having yellow leaf edges.

For more detailed explanation of what do I have and how I use it please see https://imgur.com/a/ZzOWpru as I have explained it there with photos.

Re: Help with outdoor Ebb and Flow

The leaf looks dry around the edges. It might be thrips causing that. It is a problem with hydro systems since it is difficult to control when plants are confined to a smaller space.

You have an unusual set up. You have different plants in the same system. Usually that is a problem because different plants will have different watering and nutrient requirements. The faster growing ones will eventually take over.

It is unusual to see large plants like tomatoes and cucumbers in a grow bed. I am more used to seeing those plants in dutch bucket systems

Cucumbers and tomatoes need good light and should be able to take full sun and they also need good air circulation to avoid fungal issues.

I am used to grow beds with smaller crops like lettuce, beets, kale, and asian greens that are planted with minimal spacing. Those grow beds are in full sun or in greenhouses. We do not cover the grow beds but the reservoirs are underground to keep the water cooler, ideally around 70 degrees. The cinder grow beds are 100 ft long x 4 ft wide and contain about 1200 lettuce plants 8-10 inches apart. They are cycled twice and hour. Cinder beds are only good for about 18 months then they have to be flushed or replaced since dirt, debris and root build up will cause the system to clog.

For cucumbers we trialed an auto pot system that flooded the 3 gallon pots of coir four times a day. The cucumbers were smaller and less productive than cucumbers grown in 15 gallon dutch buckets of cinder that were constantly watered and drained 24 hours a day.

Cucumbers and tomatoes were pruned and staked to string trellises about 2 ft apart. These were grown in shade houses with fans to provide air movement. We still had problems with mildew and pests that got into the houses. People don't really get the purpose of a double door system and they would leave both doors open during harvest.